Project Farm tests Walmart and O'Reilly batteries

[4wd]

I've found his results identical to my own when it came to his weedeater line test, I tried half of the ones he tested and found identical results. Discovered twisted power max weedeater line.
Another one was his box cutter blade tests, I had already tried most of what he tested, identical results. Found the Irwin carbide coated blades were the best for my application, continued using them.
One of my all time favorites was his bar and chain oil tests. Had tried most of the same ones. I found motor oil seemed to be the best, he found motor oil to be the best, i continued using motor oil.

He needs to follow you … less drama for all

 

[4wd]

We now have O-O-O-O’Reilly’s not far from me. I’ll have to check them out.
I’d like to see more testing on other group size batteries. I mean, we know that the group 65 is better but what about others?

Case in point - I see dead space in the battery box ?
That H6 is replaced with an H7 …

 

[Nukeman7]

The Project Farm test is flawed in that the Walmart EverStart batteries tested were sourced by Todd in his home state of Missouri. Hence, they were the South Korean made batteries.

Depending on what part of the U.S. you reside, the EverStart batteries available at your local WalMart might be sourced from Clarios or East Penn (which is the same manufacturer of the O'Reilly SuperStart batteries used in this test). What we can all agree on is that the SuperStart batteries cost ~30-50% more than the same tier EverStart batteries. If you are in a region where WalMart sells the East Penn made EverStart batteries (e.g., East Coast), the results would be reversed when cost is factored in.

 

[f355spider]

The new WM ones are made in South Korea & look a lot better than the Clarios.

Clarios is supplying the batteries at WalMart in the midwest and west coast. Clarios also supplies Interstate and AC Delco. Most of the flooded batteries are from Korea. The Clarios AGMs come from one of several factories in the USA, Mexico, China, Germany, Korea or India.

I believe O'Reilly does much the same thing. East Penn supplies on the east coast, but everywhere else its Clarios.

 

[f355spider]

"VERY IMPRESSIVE!"

 

[Intelligent Molecule]

I know we hate PF

"We" do? Been watching this channel for years, and he does some of the best product testing I've seen. His motor oil testing isn't good, but overall does an excellent job.

 

[ctechbob]

My 2003 Accord made it 4 years on a Value Power Walmart made in 2022. Pretty good for that car, for whatever reason it has always been a 2-3 years per battery car even though everything always checks out with it.

It is getting the Weize AGM out of the Acura tomorrow though. Wife just told me it did some oddball things with the lights on the dash yesterday, that is its usual sign that it is time to replace the battery, even though it still cranks the car just fine. I just don't have time to go get one tomorrow so I'll slap the one from the Acura in it and let her roll.

 

[f355spider]

By comparison, when Consumer Reports does their testing, they claim they heavily weight their rankings based on their accelerated life tests, not just performance. I am unsure how those life tests performed, but they claim that is more useful then their cranking amps, reserve capacity, etc tests they perform.

I don't see the Project Farm guy doing anything that is based on estimated life, only strict performance tests.

 

[AZjeff]

"We" do? Been watching this channel for years, and he does some of the best product testing I've seen. His motor oil testing isn't good, but overall does an excellent job.

The BITOG hive in general.

The Project Farm test is flawed in that the Walmart EverStart batteries tested were sourced by Todd in his home state of Missouri. Hence, they were the South Korean made batteries.

Depending on what part of the U.S. you reside, the EverStart batteries available at your local WalMart might be sourced from Clarios or East Penn (which is the same manufacturer of the O'Reilly SuperStart batteries used in this test). What we can all agree on is that the SuperStart batteries cost ~30-50% more than the same tier EverStart batteries. If you are in a region where WalMart sells the East Penn made EverStart batteries (e.g., East Coast), the results would be reversed when cost is factored in.

See what you mean about flawed, what should he do?

Is the Clarios better than the Korean battery? How does one tell if a battery is Clarios or East Penn?

 

[Nukeman7]

The BITOG hive in general.


See what you mean about flawed, what should he do?

Is the Clarios better than the Korean battery? How does one tell if a battery is Clarios or East Penn?

See my Post #240 in this parallel BITOG thread about the Project Farm battery test video.

 

[fantastic]

Clarios is supplying the batteries at WalMart in the midwest and west coast. Clarios also supplies Interstate and AC Delco. Most of the flooded batteries are from Korea. The Clarios AGMs come from one of several factories in the USA, Mexico, China, Germany, Korea or India.

I believe O'Reilly does much the same thing. East Penn supplies on the east coast, but everywhere else its Clarios.

I figured it might still be Clarios. The new S.K. ones seem to be more of a maintenance Free battery than the previous batteries.

 

[dogememe]

I would buy based on factors like convenience, price, warranty, availability, etc. for a typical vehicle any brand of battery that meets the spec will be fine. If the car takes a group 48 AGM battery put in a group 48 AGM from any store that fits your need and move on.

Now if you have specific needs you need to do more research and get a better battery like Northstar/Odyssey. But for a typical vehicle used in typical conditions the brand of battery doesn’t matter.

Whether it’s Walmart or O’Reilly or any other vendor, the particular supplier can vary based on location as well as particular group size. And even those things are changing constantly. Generalizing that one brand of battery is better than another is likely not useful.

 

[charbaby]

I for one appreciate PF’s hard work on all of his testing, video & editing. I don’t take any of it as gospel, just a guideline. But he certainly gets an “A” for effort and I don’t have to do anything except sit back with a hot beverage and watch and FF through the parts that I don’t want to watch.

I’ve purchased some of the products that PF has tested with my own good results knowing that he tested the name brand products that may be produced by different manufacturers than what I might be receiving in my area. I get it!

The same can be said for the TireRack or Consumer Reports in their tire testing. I would know exactly which tire to purchase if I owned the exact vehicle that they tested tires on. It’s just a guideline. They all get an “A” for effort because all of this testing takes days on end to produce.

 

[Trav]

I recently bought a group 35 Maxx from WM, made in USA by Eastern Penn and a 3 year full exchange warranty (Northern climate battery). I was going to go to Costco but since they blew the warranty away with pro rated right out of the gate I probably wont buy another one from them the price difference to Walmart today is not much and its closer.

 

[burbguy82]

I have not had issues with Walmart batteries - and if I should - bet there is a Walmart nearby …

Agreed.....too add:

These days reliability and replacement availability are equal.

 

[vwmaniaman]

I have been buying the Duracell from Sam's Club and all of them here in My area of KY have a sticker saying made by East Penn. Even my lawn mower likes them. I haven't had to replace one yet. My Yukon had a Wal-Mart 4 year in it when I bought it used and it lasted 2 years and when I took it to them they just gave me another of the same type, so they were OK that way.

 

[Hermann]

"We" do? Been watching this channel for years, and he does some of the best product testing I've seen. His motor oil testing isn't good, but overall does an excellent job.

Loved the recent "countertop ice maker" tests. Don't hate PF just turn down the volume. Like a lot of squeaky voiced you tubers they should listen to their own videos.

 

[Hall]

If it lowers the cost at delivery - and is not a threat to the warranty

I'd bet that the retailers cover the warranty costs 100% themselves and don't go back to whoever their supplier/manufacturer is, so it's a business decision they've made. In the case of WM, along with buying volume, this is how they buy and sell them so much lower than everyone else.

Walmart battery is my go to battery since 2010. Because you can find Walmart every corner of USA

That's a huge factor that many don't look at (or ignore). Plus, pre-Covid, most of their stores were open 24/7.

 

[PMT133]

Clarios is supplying the batteries at WalMart in the midwest and west coast. Clarios also supplies Interstate and AC Delco. Most of the flooded batteries are from Korea. The Clarios AGMs come from one of several factories in the USA, Mexico, China, Germany, Korea or India.

I believe O'Reilly does much the same thing. East Penn supplies on the east coast, but everywhere else its Clarios.

My local Walmart has nothing but clarios and I'm on the east coast. Maybe regional for the most part or maybe because I have a sams club near by that only carries east penn in the duracell variant? I've actually never seen an east penn everstart on the shelf, they've all been JCI or now clarios.

 

[oil pan 4]

Loved the recent "countertop ice maker" tests. Don't hate PF just turn down the volume. Like a lot of squeaky voiced you tubers they should listen to their own videos.

Yeah seems to only be a problem for people who either haven't figured out how to turn down volume, turn on the CC and/or can't read.